Has anyone read this? It's one of my all-time favorites, and I'd like to know if anyone else agrees? I've never talked to anyone who knew what the hell I was talking about when I asked this. I hope I'm really not crazy. :rolleyes:

C'mon now, nobody's read this? Or nobody liked it? You've got to love Cat, with his telepathic abilities. And the whole setting of the book is awesomely dark and sweet. If only I were in that future earth....ah, well, I'd probably still be me. :bugeye:

"I followed Joan D. Vinge's writings with The Snow Queen and The Summer Queen books, which are mainly aimed at the female audience. Her books Psion and CatsPaw are combined in to the book Alien Blood, and here she shows that she's just as adept with the male perspective.
In this book you'll meet Cat. He's a throw-away in society. A half-breed with cat-eye pupils, that mark him as a half human/half Hydran. The humans fear the Hydrans because of their psychic abilities. We follow Cat as he goes from a prison camp to the highest circles of power, eventually using his psychic gifts to bodyguard one of the elite rulers of the planet. It's a wild ride, with drugs and sex and violence, all neatly tucked around a treatise on government and the perils of absolute power corrupting absolutely.


As with Vinge's other books- this world is completely thought-out and real. The characters have flaws and strengths that make them genuine, and the story is multi-layered but not hard to follow. I'd recommend this book for say...14 and older- due to some of the themes. I'd dearly like to see this Vinge book made in to a movie, so it would reach a larger audience than sci fi addicts."

Cosmictraveller,

Thanks for the response. I also liked The Summer Queen and The Snow Queen, very much in fact, but I guess I related to Psion and Catspaw (together as Alien Blood), more because I am a man (or grown boy, rather). Your description of the two books (or one)was very good. It's been a while since I read it, but talking about it has got me interested again.

I find it upsetting, though, that they didn't seem to get much critical acclaim. Maybe they did, though, and I just didn't see it. They are from 1982 and 1988, when I was only 12 and 18 respectively.

I, too, would love to see them made into movies. I actually can't think of any books I would rather see made into movies, except maybe Voices of Hope, by David Feintuch. That is a similar type of book, except that the focus is on computer hackers vs. telepathic abilities. It would be truly awesome to see any of them made into movies.

CT3000

hey cottontop and cosmic traveller.

i signed up now just to reply to this topic and tell you guys how much i loved the book. :)

In case you dont know, there's a third book called Dreamfall in the Cat series. Havent read it myself either, but would love to.

Three Cheers to Joan D Vinge.

Hey flakeboy,

Thanks for telling me about the Dreamfall book. I didn't know about it. I'll definitely look for it. Hope it's as good as the other two.

Hey buddy, that reply was QUICK!

if you dont mind, would you please recommend some other books that i might like? you never know what you're missing in some not soo popular books...

thank you.

Sure. Try the one I listed previously: Voices of Hope by David Feintuch. There aren't too many like Psion and Catspaw, though, but that one has a similar feel to it, though it doesn't deal with psions. I'll have to think about others. Anyone else have any recommendations for him?

Also, try The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F. Hamilton. 6 books in the series. Pretty good.

thnx for the suggestions buddy. i'll look for those books.